If you struggle with writing your essays, you are not alone.

Problems with writing essays is a common complaint among students taking writing classes on college campuses. Students often struggle to complete English class assignments requiring critical thinking or poetry.

“I’m not good at writing essays or personal stories,” Fresno City College student Isaiah Barcelos said.

The hardest part is to just get my students to start writing,” Julio Trevino, English instructor, said.

The college provides numerous resources such as the Writing Center and Tutoring Center to assist students struggling to put their essays together. For students who cannot go to these places, they can heed these recommendations from English instructors and tutors on improving their writing proficiency.

1. Always proofread your writing

A very simple yet important rule is to always reread what you’ve written. Students often catch mistakes that they didn’t catch the first time.

2. Read your writing aloud, and even backwards

Professor Trevino states that reading backwards forces your brain to read your work sentence by sentence. Reading aloud helps you catch more mistakes.

3. Focus on what’s necessary

The basics of your writing are the base of your essay topic which includes the main ideas that you plan to get across to the reader. After this, you can then clean it up and make it nice.

4. Do an outline

This self-made guide to keep you on track of what you want to include in the essay and where it should be placed can be beneficial.

5. Brainstorming

Before jumping into the writing process, it’s best if you first figure out what you want your topic to be and what ideas you can pull out of that topic.

6. Start as early as possible

As soon as you’re given a writing assignment, begin working on it as soon as possible. Even if it’s just brainstorming your topic, it’s best to have an idea.

7. Reading books

“If you expose yourself to better writing, you’re more likely to become a better writer,” states FCC English tutor Raquel Chaves. As you expose yourself to others’ writing, you can pick up on techniques and styles.

8. Take feedback and constructive criticism

Take the advice that’s given to you into serious consideration, whether it be from a classmate, a friend or your instructor. Accepting feedback and critique helps make you a stronger writer.

Don’t be afraid to ask your instructor or anyone from the writing or tutoring center for additional help in fixing up your writing. The writing center is open Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., on Fridays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.